Think that you may own a painting by Erich Heckel? We authenticate, appraise, research and issue certificates of authenticity (COA) and provide consultations for all paintings by Erich Heckel.

Self-Portrait

Erich Heckel was a German painter and printmaker, and a founding member of the Die Brücke group ("The Bridge") which existed 1905-1913.

Heckel was born in Döbeln (Saxony). Heckel and others members of the group Die Brücke greatly admired the work of Edvard Munch, and aimed to make a "bridge" between traditional neo-romantic German painting and modern expressionist painting. The four founding members made much use of the print as a cheap and quick medium with which to produce affordable art.

In 1937 the Nazi Party declared his work "degenerate"; it forbade him to show his work in public, and over 700 items of his art were confiscated from the nation's museums. By 1944 all of his woodcut blocks and print plates had been destroyed.

Afler World War II Heckel lived at Hemmenhofen near Lake Constance, teaching at the Karlsruhe Academy until 1955. He continued painting until his death at Radolfzell in 1970. Like most members of Die Brücke, he was a prolific printmaker, with 465 woodcuts, 375 etchings, and 400 lithographs described in the Dube catalogues raisonné, over 200 of which, mostly etchings, date to the last seven years of his life.

A major retrospective exhibition, Erich Heckel – His Work in the 1920s, was held October 2004 – February 2005 at the Brücke Museum in Berlin. Still wondering about an early 20th century German painting in your family collection? Contact us…it could be by Erich Heckel.